Tacos are the obvious (and totally correct) choice for dinner on Cinco de Mayo. But remove the options of chicken or beef, and it becomes a little bit difficult to make ridiculously yummy tacos.
Obviously, there are beans. And yes, every good vegetarian will use beans (in just about everything). However, meat can give tacos an opposing texture and a taste that compliments the rest of the ingredients. Bean tacos are OKAY, but I find myself wanting something more...
This is where tofu comes in. Tofu can be made in so many ways (I'm discovering) and using it as a substitute for sliced or cubed chicken is one of the easiest. To make the dish above, I cubed extra firm tofu and marinaded it in fajita seasoning mix for an hour. I then drained it, tossed it in corn starch** mixed with cumin and red pepper, and deep fried it. The result were tasty, crispy, "chicken like" additions to my tacos.
I added re-fried beans, onion, lettuce, tomato, cheese, ranch dressing, and hot sauce to complete these tacos, but obviously you could top them with anything you like!***
**Deep frying tofu coated in Corn Starch is an easy way to make crispy tofu. I learned this from the owner of my most favorite Thai restaurant. You can also pan fry tofu, but it takes much longer to get crispy, and does not have the airy quality that it gets when deep fried.
***Some other great taco toppings include rice, potatoes & carrots (dice them, mix with garlic & onion, and pan fry!), fruits such as mango and pineapple, peppers, and mushrooms (if you dig them...none for me, thanks). Almost everything goes on tacos :)
have you tried tempeh yet? we like it better than tofu. and think it has a more meaty texture (kind of like red meat).
ReplyDeleteIf you can find it, Quorn makes really great meatless chicken cutlets. They use some kind of mushroom protein, and apparently they're really common in Europe (but sadly harder to find in the states). This stuff is the jam, especially if you fry it up like you would actual chicken cutlets:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.quorn.us/products/Naked_Chik%27n_Cutlet.aspx
I've used 'em in tacos before with much success.